Piedmont patients contacted about possible contamination

ATLANTA -- More than 400 Piedmont Healthcare patients were contacted after some colonoscopy equipment was not cleaned as recommended.

Here is the statement from Piedmont Healthcare:

A recent assessment of the cleaning process on scopes used in colonoscopies at the Piedmont West Surgery Center determined that recommended guidelines had not been followed.

While the Surgery Center staff has been diligent in cleaning the equipment with enzymatic soap after every use, the recommended final step of soaking the equipment in a high-level disinfectant did not occur. We sincerely regret and apologize for this situation and have taken the necessary steps to ensure this does not happen again.

As a result, we have contacted 456 patients who received colonoscopies at the facility, and voluntarily reported these findings and the actions we have taken to rectify it to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Our research indicates that the risk of transmission is less than one in 1 million (lower than .000001 percent chance) and as of today, no patient has reported problems. However, we believe the right approach is to be overly cautious. We have offered testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as well as physician counseling at no cost to the patients who are impacted.

We continue to hold patient care, patient safety and patient rights as our top priorities. We are committed to maintaining the patient trust Piedmont has earned over the past 107 years, and will continue to focus on improving the care and treatment we provide.